The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-03-12


dead?" Luke xiv. 81
L have chosen this text, not for the
purpose of discussing the doctrine of
the resurrection Of Jesus, but as the
symbol of other truths which have a
practical bearing upon the religious
teachings of the day and because itiaptly
illustrates the vain effort which men
are constantly making to put theology
for religion an idea void OF that IN
spirational life and power necessary TO
give force and effect to the real and
essential truths of Christianity. Many
of the old ideas of theology respecting
God and mans relation to him and to
his fellows, are dead and buried be-
meath the rubbish of the past; but men,
who call themselves Christians, are con-
stantly digging into the graves expos
ing the putrid corpses to the gaze
of a disguised world, and crying
"breathe, OH dry bones and live" Why
seek the living among the deadY Let
us rather turn to the living vital things,
which constitute the glory and truth OF
Christianity.
The olden thought "Truth crushed
to earth will rise again, is true. Like
water, when its level is disturbed in
the passage to equilibrium, it some
times becomes terrible and even de-
struetive while in the passage; but when
it has reached the great ocean it be-
comes the worlds highway for the
commerce of the nations so of the
ocean of truth as the commerce of
thought. The flattering fallacies OF
falsehood may succeed for a time, and
in our strong desire for action we may
allow our personal ambition to out
weigh our judgments, but you might
as well expect to soil sunbeam by an
outward touch as to overcome the ultl-
mate force of truth-it is mighty and
it will prevail. have neither the
time, nor would it be proper here, to
enquire as to the proposed evil; it is
sufficient to say that if truth, or good,
does not ultimately prevail, Il believe
it willy, and the time does not yet come
when "God shall wipe away all tears
from all eyes, and suffering and sorrow
shall be no more" nor the time never
arrive when "God shall be all in all, y
then, in my human opinion man and
the universe is failure, and it had been
better that neither had ever been.
Error does now exist. We are forced
to deal with facts as we find them, how
ever we may be incapacitated to under
stand their cause. The world is full OF
crooked ssisms." Some Of them are
mere apologies for opinions pomp-
GUS movement to a pauper thought"
These s'isms" furnish both the occasion
and the excuse for men to put their
conscience in the keeping of their lead
ers. 1t is the most convenient way to
escape responsibility. Many of these
''isms'' are so plausible that it would
be difficult to detect the difference be-
tween error and truth, so closely do
they counterfeit the truth. But after
all it is only necessary to turn to the
alphabet of truth to discover that, su-
preme love to God and love to man con
stitutes the whole of mans duty, and
if the fine-spun theories of religious
truths, as promulgated by the theolog-
ieal s'isms," are lacking in these ele-
ments, then it is safe to disregard their
teachings. The religious world now
looks for theology which shall tally
with religion and the pure instincts of
humanity. 1t demands theories which
shall encourage the intellect to do its
utmost, which shall develop and arouse
the highest hopes for an improved flu
ture. The religious world to-day has
no sympathy with that form of theology
which is lacking in practicability. 1t
cares nothing for the disputes about
modes. forms and ceremonies it de-
mands theology which builds up, not
which pulls down, which affects ''the
parliament of man and the federation
of the world" The world is in active
sympathy with piety. The vilest men
will respect true piety. Men do not
hate piety, but they do hate and con-
denim cant and hypocrisy. That modest
unassuming piety which fills the human
heart with charity, which makes man
gentle to Others and just to himself and
his fellows, is an object of universal
respect, love and veneration. On the
other hand, men naturally hate the lust
of power if it is clothed in the garb of
piety. They hate religious charletans
and quacks, and they love to tear folly
and impudence from the affairs of holt
ness, where only the innocent, the pure
and the good have the right to sit. The
world, to-day, demands less of theology
but more of religion-less of theory but
more of practice. Men are beginning
to see that the search among the dead
for the living is futile task.
But man is religious being. With
out stopping here to discuss the origin
Of religious ideas, the facts of human
nature are sufficient for our present